INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

PEER TUTORING IN SIGHT WORDS

Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Sight Word Vocabulary and consequently, Reading Comprehension
Description:
This intervention provides training for both tutors and tutees in the increase of sight word
vocabulary. It takes approximately 30 minutes, including tutor training, tutor-tutee practice
and testing, and graphing test results.
Materials:
1. Tutor Folders: one for each tutor-tutee pair. The folders have 3 paper pockets: a) the
"GO" pocket contains 10 cards at a time, b) the "STOP" pocket receives the cards
when the tutee has met the criterion, and c) the "STAR CARD" pocket contains the
names of the pair and a grid with space for up to 10 stickers/stamps. It also has: a) a
bar graph on the left hand side of the folder and b) a picture of a "smiley face" and a
large "X" on the back of the folder.
2. Word Cards for each session: one set per pair. Cards can be individualized based on
the students' individual needs.
3. Stickers
4. Timer/Watch

Procedure/Steps:
1. Divide the students into tutors and tutees. Half of the tutors will be students of high
reading level. Pair the highest performing tutor with the highest performing tutee,
the next highest performing tutor with the second highest performing tutee, and so
on.
2. Divide the tutors into groups of 3-4 students and call them "Tutor Huddles".
3. Conduct a 30-minute classwide orientation session about the procedures described
below. Follow-up with two 30-minute sessions for each Tutor Huddle and then
conduct reviews periodically as needed.
4. Give a signal so that each tutor gets his of her tutee's folder from a designated area
in the classroom. Have the tutees do seatwork.
5. Each tutor in each Tutor Huddle reads orally the words and the other members give
him/her feedback. This Tutor Huddle session lasts 5 minutes.
6. If the tutor identifies the word correctly, the other members say "yes". If the tutor is
incorrect, they try to say the correct word. If they can't, they ask for the teacher' s
help.
7. After 5 minutes, signal the end of the Tutor Huddle and the beginning of the peer
tutoring.
8. Each pair practices the GO pocket words. The tutors present the cards as many
times as possible for 5 minutes. If the tutee makes an error for the first time, the
tutor should say, "Try again". If the tutee makes an error again, the tutor provides

the correct word (e.g., "Say 'cat' ").

9. Signal the end of the practice period and the beginning of the test period. Tutors
present again the GO words but only once and they give no feedback. If the tutee
says the word correctly, the tutor places it on the "smiley face". If the tutee makes
an error, the tutor places the card on the "X".
10. Have the tutors mark the back of the card with a smile or with an X depending on
the tutee's answer.
11. When the tutee identifies the word correctly on three testing sessions, the tutor
moves it to the STOP pocket and colors a square on the bar graph with a different
color for each session. Have them draw a line on the graph if no cards were moved.
12. Have tutors return the folders to their proper place.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
1. Compare the students' scores on the same test of 30-100 words before and after
implementation of this intervention.
2. Compare the students' scores on daily or weekly drills before and after
implementation.

Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

REPEATED READINGS
Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Reading Comprehension
Description:
This intervention is useful for slow readers. Students read repeatedly short passages until
they achieve a satisfactory level of fluency. In this way, they spend less time on reading the
words and they can focus on understanding the content. Students are told that they are
going to be asked comprehension questions. The optimal number of repetitions appears to
be four.
Materials:
1. Stopwatch/Watch with second hand
2. Stickers (optional)
3. Sheets of paper or copies of the reading passages for marking errors (optional)

Procedure/Steps:
1. Explain to students that they will be learning a way of improving their reading

comprehension similar to the type of practice that helps athletes develop skill at
their sports.
2. Give the first student the assigned reading passage and tell the following
directions:
"I want you to read this story out loud. I want you to remember as much about the
story as you can. The important thing is to find out as much about the story as you
can. When you are done, I am going to ask you to retell the story to me [or answer
some questions about the story]."
3. Record the time needed for each reading.
4. If desired, record the number of errors on your copy of passage or on a sheet of
paper.
5. When the student finishes reading the passage, ask him/her to read it again. Repeat
a shortened version of the directions.
6. Have the student retell the story or answer different comprehension questions after
each reading. After the final reading, praise the student for understanding the story.
7. Follow the same procedure with the other students in the reading group.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension skill sheets or end-of-unit reading tests
before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

RECONCILED READING
Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Reading Comprehension
Description:
This intervention, which is based on Schema Theory, engages students in enrichment
activities prior to reading the passage. In this way, students have the opportunity to activate
and enhance existing knowledge before reading. Pre-teaching vocabulary words will
enhance comprehension.
Materials:
1. Stickers (optional)
2. Sheets of paper or copies of the reading passages for marking errors (optional)

Procedure/Steps:
1. Start by the last section in the reading lesson, often called "Enrichment Activities".

Conduct several of these activities to build background information and vocabulary.

2. Teach the skill lessons in the teacher's manual in the context of the story rather than
with isolated sentences or paragraphs.
3. Ask the students questions about the reading in order to help them make predictions
about the content or outcome of the story.
4. Have the students read the story silently to apply background knowledge and skills
on their own.
5. After the reading, conduct a brief discussion to evaluate the lesson's four
instructional goals:
o Building story background to enhance comprehension;
o Teaching specific vocabulary;
o Teaching reading subskills, such as predicting outcomes;
o Focusing attention on relevant story information.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on daily vocabulary or comprehension skill sheets or end-ofunit reading tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

GROUP STORY MAPPING
Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Reading Comprehension by developing a greater correspondence
between prior knowledge and present reading material.
Description:
This intervention, which is based on Schema Theory, emphasizes linking previous
knowledge structures (schemata) with reading materials. A pre-reading technique (see "My
Story Map") provides a framework that directs students' attention to important interrelated
information, such as setting, characters, problem, goal, action, and outcome.
Materials:
1. Overhead Projector

2. "My Story Map" transparency and individual student paper copies one per student.
3. List of 10 comprehension questions for each student, one list per story.

Procedure/Steps:
Four phases of implementation: Phase 1: Modeling the use of Story Mapping
1. Display the overhead transparency of the story map. Have the students complete
their own copies as you call on students for responses.
2. Have the students hand in their story maps, put away their reading materials, and
answer the comprehension questions individually.

Phase 2: Checking students use of Story Mapping

1. Have the students fill in their story maps individually. Tell them that they can fill in
the maps as they read their story or after they read or both.
2. After silent reading and map completion, call on students to identify story map
elements. Record the answers on the transparency and provide corrective feedback.
3. Again, have the students hand in their story maps, put away their reading materials,
and answer the comprehension questions.

Phase 3: Independent Use of Story Mapping:

1. Have the students silently read the story and complete their story maps. Do not call
on students to identify story map elements.
2. Test comprehension by having again the students hand in their story maps, put away
their reading materials, and answer the comprehension questions.

Phase 4: Maintenance
Have the students silently read the story and answer comprehension questions without the
story maps. If scores falls below 80% accuracy for 2 consecutive days, use the maps again.
Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or daily, weekly,
or end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

Story map components for Group Story Mapping. From Idol (1987, p.199).
My Story Map

List

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

STORY GRAMMAR TRAINING
Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Reading Comprehension by providing a framework for learning and
remembering information.

Description:
This intervention emphasizes the importance of metacognitive or active reading strategies
to improve comprehension. It directs students' attention on story structure by teaching them
to ask five "wh" questions about the settings and episodes of the story.
Materials:
1. Overhead Projector
2. Transparency and individual student paper copies of the five "wh"
questions or the Detective Reader, one per student.
3. Three or four narrative passages.
4. Poster board chart listing the 5 "wh" questions (optional)

Procedure/Steps:
1. Tell the students that they are going to play a game to help them become better
readers. The game is called "Reading Mysteries" and "Storyteller" and "Detective
Reader" are the main characters.
2. Tell them that the job of the Storyteller is to provide specific clues to enable readers
to make predictions about the story based on past experiences.
3. Tell them that their job as Detective Reader is to search for clues in the story, ask
questions, and make predictions based on background knowledge.
4. Read them a story.
5. Introduce the five "wh" story grammar questions by using an overhead or poster
board chart.
6. Call on students to answer these questions and write the answers on the
transparency and have them write the answers on their copies, too.
7. Tell the students that to be good Detective Readers, they need to think of these
questions during silent reading.
8. Practice using the questions at least two more times as a classwide activity or in
reading groups.
9. Gradually eliminate the use of paper copies for the five "wh" questions.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or daily, weekly,
or end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

5 "wh" questions

Detective Reader

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

STORY RETELLING
Appropriate Grade Level: 1st to 5th Grade
Purpose: Improve Reading Comprehension by retelling a story to partners, using outlines.
Description:
This intervention emphasizes the importance of verbal rehearsal of a story. By retelling
students relate information from the story to their own experiences. In this way, they
improve their reading comprehension and memory of story information.
Materials:
1. Overhead Projector

2. Transparency and individual student paper copies of the story outline, one per
student.

Procedure/Steps:
1. Tell the students that they are going to learn a new and exciting way to understand
and remember more about what they read.
2. Assign students to pairs with similar reading levels for four training sessions.
3. Tell them that they will be reading a passage and paying attention to the most
important ideas of the story.
4. Have the students read the passage silently.
5. Introduce the outline by using an overhead.
6. Call on students to complete the outline and write the answers on the transparency.
7. Have them write the answers on their copies, too.
8. Have them work in pairs to retell all the important ideas in the story.
9. Provide guidance for completing the outline in the first two sessions and in the third
if needed. Have them to complete alone in the fourth session. Then, have to retell
the story to each other in pairs as above.
10. Reverse the order of retelling for the partners over the four sessions.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or daily/weekly
tests or end-of-unit reading tests before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Rathvon, N. (1999). Effective School Interventions. New York: Guilford Press.

Story Outline

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIPS STRATEGY
Appropriate Grade Level: 3rd to 12th Grade
Purpose: Increase correct answers to reading comprehension questions by considering both
the text and the background knowledge.
Description:
The question-answer relationships strategy helps students label the type of questions that
are asked and to use this information to develop their answers.
Procedure:
A. "Right There" Label:
Words used to create the question and words used for the answer are Right There in the
same sentence.
(e.g. Text: "So, Jack rode a horse to school today!"
Question: What did Jack ride to school today?
Answer: a horse)
B. "Think and Search" Label:
The answer is in the text, but words used to create the question and those used for an
appropriate answer would not be in the same sentence. They come from different parts of
the text.
(e.g. Text: "First, you get some bread. Second, you get a knife. Third, you get the peanut
butter."
Question: How do you make a peanut butter sandwich?)
C. "On My Own" Label:
The answer is not found in the text. You can even answer the question without reading the
text by using your own experience.

Steps:
1. Introduce the students to the concept of question-answer relationships strategy.
2. Use several short passages to demonstrate the relationships.
3. Provide practice by asking students to identify the QARs, the answer to the
question, and the strategy they used for finding the answer:
o Provide the text, questions, answers, and QAR label for each question and
reason for why the label was appropriate.
o Provide the text, questions, answers, and QAR label for each question. Have
the students supply the reason for the label.
o Provide the text, questions, and answers. Have the students provide the
QAR labels for each question and reason for the selection of the labels.
o Provide the text and questions. Have the students provide the answers, QAR
labels, and the reasons for the labels.
4. Gradually increase the length of passages and the variety of reading materials.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or reading tests
before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Bos, C.S. & Vaughn, S. (2002). Strategies for teaching students with learning and behavior
problems. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

PARAPHRASING STRATEGY
Appropriate Grade Level: 3rd to 12th Grade
Purpose: Improve understanding of expository materials by getting the main ideas through
paraphrasing.
Description:
The paraphrasing strategy helps students recall the main ideas and specific facts of
materials they read. There are three steps for teaching this strategy. (described below)
Materials:
1. A scripted lesson;
2. Cue cards for learning and generalizing the strategy;
3. Worksheets.

Steps:

1. Read a paragraph.
Read the paragraph silently. As you read, be sure to think what the words mean.
2. Ask yourself, "What were the main ideas and details of this paragraph?"
After reading the paragraph, ask yourself, "What were the main ideas and details?"
This question helps you to think about what you just read. You can also look
quickly back over the paragraph to help you find the main idea and the details
related to the main idea.
3. Put the main idea and details in your own words.
Now put the main idea and details into your own words. This will help you
remember the information. Try to give at least two details related to the main idea.
The acronym for these steps is RAP. (Paraphrasing is like rapping or talking to yourself.)
Some rules that help find the main idea are:

Look for it in the first sentence of the paragraph.

Look for repetitions of the same word or words in the whole paragraph.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or reading tests
before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Bos, C.S. & Vaughn, S. (2002). Strategies for teaching students with learning and behavior
problems. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

INTERVENTIONS FOR READING COMPREHENSION

SUMMARIZATION STRATEGY
Appropriate Grade Level: 4th to 12th Grade
Purpose: Improve understanding of expository materials by summarizing the main ideas.
Description:
The summarization strategy helps students recall the main ideas and specific facts of
materials they read. There are five rules for writing summaries. (described below)
Rules for writing summaries:
1. Delete irrelevant or trivial information.
2. Delete redundant information.

3. Select topic sentences.

4. Make a list of actions.
5. Invent topic sentences when none are provided by the author.

Steps for teaching the strategy:

1. Use sets of short paragraphs.
2. Each set should highlight one rule.
3. Explain the rules and have the students practice individually with your materials.
4. Present a checklist that the students can use to judge the quality of their summary.
5. You can also use the same checklist to monitor their progress and give them
corrective feedback.

Evaluation of Effectiveness:
Compare the students' scores on comprehension questions or skill sheets or reading tests
before and after implementation of this intervention.
Source:
Bos, C.S. & Vaughn, S. (2002). Strategies for teaching students with learning and behavior
problems. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Checklist Summary